STARNBERG, Germany, March 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PARI Pharma, a company focused on optimization of drug-device combinations, has licensed its first-in-class inhalation development program for Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS) to Breath Therapeutics GmbH (Breath Therapeutics, Munich, Germany) as their lead program. Breath Therapeutics recently closed on 43.5M Euros in Series A Financing.

BOS is a lethal respiratory disease, primarily affecting patients who have received a lung transplant. It is one of the primarily reasons contributing to poor 5-year survival rates following lung transplantation. "BOS is one of the most devastating lung diseases and still today, no effective therapy is available. Our strategy with this lead program from PARI Pharma is to deposit high concentrations of an immunosuppressive agent directly into the small airways of the lung," states Dr.Jens Stegemann, CEO of Breath Therapeutics.

PARI developed the proprietary formulation of liposomal cyclosporine A optimized to its high performance eFlow Technology device platform as a drug-device combination that includes a remote adherence monitoring feature for the device. PARI conducted early clinical trials including phase I and phase II trials to confirm safety and clinical efficacy. Clinical development included PARI Pharma's collaboration with lung transplantation expert Aldo Iacono, MD, (University of Maryland, USA). Licensing the program to Breath Therapeutics enables the program to continue into phase III clinical trials in Europe and the US.

"The team at Breath Therapeutics has the expertise and focus to bring the first lung-targeted BOS therapy through clinical development and hopefully onto the market. For PARI Pharma, it is highly rewarding to see a project that we started advancing into late-stage clinical development and providing BOS patients new hope," stated Dr.Martin Knoch, President of PARI Pharma.

PARI Pharma recognizes that the future of aerosol therapies is the combined optimization of the drug formulation and the delivery device – a core competence of PARI Pharma in the global network of PARI Worldwide companies. The focus of PARI Pharma is the optimization of advanced aerosol delivery platforms, based on the eFlow Technology, with new liquid medications. The goal is to enable short and effective treatments that lead to increased patient adherence, disease control, and improved quality of life for patients. By optimizing drug and device under one roof, PARI Pharma increases the speed of development for pharmaceutical partners. For more information, please visit www.paripharma.com.

AboutBreath Therapeutics

Breath Therapeutics is specializing in advanced and first-in-class inhalation therapies for severe respiratory diseases. For its clinical development, the company is using proprietary drug formulations optimized for inhaled administration with exclusively licensed, high performance nebulizers. Breath Therapeutics is focusing on integrated therapy solutions in the interaction between diagnostic, therapy and eHealth therapy control. The clinical development program is addressing the treatment of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS) in patients after lung transplantation. PARI Pharma, a leading nebulizer company, is strategic partner and technology licensor for the BOS development program. Breath Therapeutics is based in Munich and Frankfurt, Germany. For more information, please visit: www.breath-therapeutics.com.